Focusing on a trio of Fillies in the Dogwood Stakes

Six of the nine sophomore fillies entered for Saturday’s $300,000 Dogwood S. (G3) at Churchill Downs have earned prior stakes glory in what appears to be a very competitive affair. Conditioner Phil Bauer has been on a strong run this campaign and will have two for the heat, including recent stakes heroine #9 Halina’s Forte (9-2). By Mitole, the three-year-old was a game winner of the off-the-turf Galway S. at Saratoga most recently to register her second black-type triumph, and I expect her to be a major player in this heat right back.

Dogwood Wagers

• $10 win and place #9 Halina’s Forte ($20)
• $5 exacta key box 9 with 5,7 ($20)
• $3 trifecta box 5,7,9 ($18)

The Florida-bred bay sports a 4-2-1-0 mark beneath the Twin Spires in her lifetime which includes a sharp allowance tally on the course in May, and she comes into this contest with a pair of useful morning moves on the strip, as well. Halina’s Forte is usually pretty quick from the gate, and in a field lacking a confirmed front runner, she could find herself in an advantageous spot forcing the tempo from the break on Saturday. The price is fair with Junior Alvarado in the silks. 

Morning-line choice #5 My Mane Squeeze (5-2), who bagged the Eight Belles (G2) on the oval in the spring, has kept some notable company in 2024 for trainer Mike Maker. The talented daughter of Audible has failed to win in her last trio of assignments but has legitimate excuses for each, and she is already proven at both the distance and on the dirt at Churchill. The New York-bred sophomore is a top-three must-use with Luis Saez retaining the ride. 

I also feel that #7 Manama Gold (6-1) deserves attention in her third run since coming to the U. S. The UAE Oaks (G3) starlet was a clear runner-up behind a dominant winner in the Jersey Girl S. at The Spa two back, and I’m willing to toss her try over the turf most recently as she gets back on her preferred kind of surface. The Star Guitar filly put in a fast half-mile drill over the Oklahoma oval at Saratoga in her latest morning spin and will be a danger while forwardly placed if she runs to that work. Ramon Vazquez picks up the mount.